Archive for July 2004

Four inventors working for Toyota in Japan have won a patent for a car that they say can help drivers avoid road rage and communicate better by glaring angrily at another car cutting through traffic as well as appear to cry, laugh, wink or just look around.

In it, they describe a car with an antenna that wags, an adjustable body height, headlights that vary in intensity and hood slits and ornamentation designed to look like eyebrows, eyelids and tears, all of which could glow with colored lights to create “moods” and physical features! No confirmation to the PSFK team that they patent covers a ‘Me? Speeding, officer? I can’t believe it!’ plea, but here’s to hoping.

International Herald Tribune Article

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Interbrand and Business Week have just released their latest 100 top brands. The list is full of the usual dinosaurs that even your grand father would have been familiar with. Why do brands like IBM, GE, Intel, Amex, Marlboro warrant such approval when there are far more dynamic brands shaping our world around us (versus screaming from a billboard down on us)?? Like the Superbrands awards, given out in Britain recently to antiquarians like Marks & Spencers, Interbrand and Business Week are sending out a message to big business that creativity, innovation and validity should be spurned and reliance on sheer size, distribution and history is key.

The International Herald Tribune recently wrote, “…increasingly, marketing experts say, companies that think their well-known brands will somehow insulate them in an increasingly competitive world are in for a shock.” However, in an accompanying piece to the 2004 Report, Business Week argues that Cult brands are scaring the established corporations but then they go on to cite Harley Davidson as a classic cult brand. ‘Harley Davidson?’ PSFK cries. Harley Davidson is the Tyrannosaurus Rex of super brands! Like the baby boomers who ride them, Harley Davidson is a bloated monster shrieking loudly and clinging on to the past it once knew them! Time to award brands on their ability to create real and valuable experiences for their customers, we think. Why can’t American Apparel appear in the league, why not Virgin, why not Vonage – dare I say - why not my cell phone company?

Interbrand / Business Week Top 2004 Brands Report (pdf)
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Inspired by a car sharing scheme in Berlin, Bostonian Robin Hill launched her car-share service in 1999. Today ZipCar has networks in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Chapel Hill. The service provides rental cars on an hourly basis without need for a central garage or in-person reservation. Simply find the Zip Car parking and spaceswipe your Zipcard to unlock the door and drive away. They even do the car in electric!

Zipcar’s perfect for those little trips to see the girlfriend’s parents: ‘oh is that the time, we have to get back now because we’re being charged by the hour!’

www.zipcar.com

In their monthly newsletter the eager eyes at TrendWatching have pronounced the emerging trend of CURATED CONSUMPTION: millions of consumers following and obeying the new curators of style, of taste, of eruditeness, in an ever growing number of B2C industries. They argue that Martha Stewart was really just the beginning in this hyper-connected world we live in the new curators enjoy unprecedented access to broadcasting and publishing channels to reach their audience, from their own blogs to niche TV stations.

TrendWatching’s August newsletter reads, “The abundance of high quality mass class goods, the mind boggling number of variations, brands, flavors, and God knows what, is driving those very same, often time-starved consumers into the arms of a new breed of ‘curators’ and editors, who pre-select for them what to buy, what to experience, what to what to wear, what to read, what to drink and so on.” Read on here.

Huh? Are they saying people read websites and newsletters to find out what’s going on and adapt their style accordingly?!!! If you agree with TrendWatching or think it’s just a load of curried constipation leave a comment below.

Even us guys like to to sparkle now and then. Catering for men is one of the driving forces behind the current success of the diamond industry. But with this success competition has arrived in the form of man-made diamonds which will surely challenge the De Beers stranglehold over the market. Full Circle has written a great piece on the changes of the industry:

“Men Who Bling have been a godsend to the diamond industry. There may be no ceiling on the number of diamonds a woman can wear, but the fact that there have traditionally been a girl’s best friend, and frankly, a bit naff for men has not helped. Hip-hop changed that of course: the rock, like the fat watch, a shorthand expression of wealth when all you normally wear is typical t-shirt, jeans and trainers…..”

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Sex, we all do it, love it and want it, but now we only want it if its fashionable. With a helping hand from The Rabbit sex toy’s premier on SATC the sex industry and fashion industry is merging more than ever. Sex is everywhere: what with high class department store Selfridges opening up a sex toy concession Tabooboo on its second floor; Sonia Rykiel stocking them along side her collection in her boutique in Paris; and CoCo de Mer, London’s first deluxe sex shop opening on Monmouth Street beside some of London’s most famous fashion boutiques.

www.soniarykiel.fr
www.selfridges.co.uk
www.coco-de-mer.co.uk

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Architect rebel Will Alsop has presented his latest treatment to revitalise a large section of English northern town Middlesborough. The theme appears to be focused on consumerism and popular culture. The proposal recommends the overhaul of dockland area called Middlehaven with new buildings that look like familiar products such as a cinema in the form of a blue Rubik’s cube, an office block nicknamed ‘Marge Simpson’s hair’ and also a primary school in the shape of a giant spelling block!

He also envisions for the £500m scheme conical apartment blocks which are supposed to resemble Prada skirts; several bottle-shaped office blocks; a proposed Digital Media Museum in the form of a Space Invader; and a hotel shaped like the children’s marble game, Kerplunk.

Some critics have described his style as “object plonking” rather than town building but PSFK can’t wait. We’ve even bought our train tickets on British Rail: setting off this evening and arriving sometime in 2006!

Guardian Newspaper Slideshow
Alsop Architects

PSFK is a collaborative and dedicated trend site bringing our view about what trends are important for you to note.

A mixed bag this week: from fashion to blogging and from 3G to music. We also noticed a few interesting reads about Japan and China!

TOP PSFK FEATURES YOU SHOULD READ THIS WEEK

PSFK’s Guide to Business Blogging

TOP PSFK POSTS YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

Abercrombie raises its ambitions as well as its price
Heinz Meanz Beanz
Mercury Music Prize Nominations 2004
AT&T Rolls Out 3G
What’s Hot From Trendcentral

OTHER STORIES YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS WEEK

BMW’s woes in China
Japan’s Cultural Tsunami
Japanese Style Invasion

And remember - if you want to discuss any of our stories why not leave a post at our Orkut forum!

‘Til next week!

After a bout poor industrial relations and an uproar regarding their saucy quarterly publication the College-Kid/Preppy brand has been facing an uphill battle with sales throughout 2004. Now its has set its targets to restore growth in the US and even is considering opportunities overseas.

In their US stores the retailer is introducing its new high end (and higher price) Ezra Fitch line selling jeans for between $118 to $148. The Ohio based company is also planning to start “a fourth concept”: another chain to join Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister and ‘little’ abercrombie. It will be geared to an older group, perhaps 25 to 35 and aimed somewhere ‘between Banana Republic and Prada’. Four “test” locations open in August.

The third area of opportunity is rumored to lie overseas. New York PSFKers think this is a no-brainer. They always are amazed when their European hipster friends visit Manhattan only to spend a vast amount (of time and money) in the city’s only Abercrombie & Fitch store down in Seaport instead of the cooler downtown boutiques. Whilst in the US the brand may well be the domain of college kids, in London and elsewhere in Europe every hipster seems to want to wear a mock-faded Abercromie logo across their chest.

Indianapolis Star Article